The rules will change for next year’s municipal elections, but the reforms that were at the top of many people’s lists will have to wait — the ones about money.
The big spenders who cry out most loudly for correction will continue throwing money around, even though the provincial government could easily have fixed the law before the 2014 elections.
In July 2010, the province announced it would implement many of the 31 recommendations of the Local Government Elections Task Force. The following year, it said the implementation would happen in time for the 2014, rather than the 2011, vote.
The recommendations are the biggest reform of local elections in 20 years. Any third-party individual or organization that wanted to advertise during an election would have to register. All advertising would have to include the name of the person or organization who paid for it. Local election officers would get new enforcement powers. Elections B.C. would have a greater role in enforcing campaign-finance rules.
The most significant recommendations, however, involve campaign spending. They would set spending limits for all candidates, ban anonymous contributions and tighten the time limit for filing expense reports. They would not limit the amount that an individual could donate to a candidate.
The purpose of campaign spending limits is to keep local elections accessible for ordinary people who lack big bankrolls. For most novice politicians, municipal elections are their first introduction to elected office. The playing field needs to be as level as possible.
It doesn’t look very level when the main civic parties in Vancouver spent $5 million in the last election. Even the almost $77,000 spent by Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin and the $62,000 spent by Saanich Mayor Frank Leonard seem out of reach for many people who might consider running.
Setting limits would help bolster the credibility of the process. But it won’t happen for 2014.
One government minister said it is too late to fix the spending rules for next year’s elections because candidates are already putting together campaign teams, and it would be too disruptive to change the rules now.
Yet, the vote is more than a year away. Even if the campaign teams are forming, they have not had a chance to spend money that comes anywhere near their limits.
Premier Christy Clark’s decision to skip the fall session of the legislature means the legislation couldn’t be adopted until the spring session, but if candidates were given notice now, they would have plenty of warning to keep a lid on expenses in anticipation of the new laws. Most spending won’t take place until a month or two before the vote.
The government also said it wants to consult some more.
Why? The task force heard from more than 10,000 people and groups, and got more than 900 written submissions from local governments, organizations and individuals.
Usually when governments say they want more consultation, it’s because they haven’t yet heard the answer they want. That could be the case here, or it could be that the answers are confusing.
Sav Dhaliwal, first vice-president of the Union of B.C. Municipalities, said that every time the province suggests a limit, it raises more questions. One of the tricky parts is setting limits that make as much sense in the District of Highlands as in Vancouver.
He said the municipalities are content to wait longer until satisfactory rules can be established.
But other provinces and municipalities have brought in limits, and B.C. has had three years to thrash out the options. British Columbians shouldn’t have to wait another three years for election-spending limits.
